Technical Field
The present invention relates to a shrinkable fiber suitable for use in obtaining a porous molded body. More specifically, the present invention particularly relates to a fiber to be dispersed in a fired body base used in a porous fired body, and to a shrinkable fiber that is excellent in pore formability in a drying process prior to firing and in a firing process due to its capability of reducing degradation in moldability caused by addition of the fiber to the fired body base and exerting an appropriate heat shrinkage property.
Background Art
Fired bodies, such as earthenware, ceramics and refractory products, are widely used in daily necessities and industrial material applications. In recent years, lighter fired bodies have been required in order to improve portability and processability thereof in daily necessities and to prevent mass increase associated with enlargement of fired bodies in industrial material applications.
There have conventionally been a large number of technologies related to pore formation on a fired body, and Patent Literature 1, for example, describes a technology in which a globular hollow resin powder is added to a ceramic base and thus obtained product is burned down to thereby obtain a ceramic having pores. Also, Patent Literature 2 describes a technology in which an organic fiber is contained in a refractory raw material and thus obtained product is fired to obtain a porous refractory product.    [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-130073    [Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 61-10079